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2 Corinthians, Chapter 11, verse 2: For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, - writes Paul - that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. (King James Version) That is strong language! Paul expected the church to be a holy company separated in a love bond to the Lord of Glory. “I have espoused you…” – rather like Abraham’s servant going away to Haran to find a bride for Isaac. You remember the magnificent story [Genesis 24] – how he found her under Divine leading and won her although she had never seen Isaac, just as the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Word won you and me. Won us through the preaching of the Word. Espoused us to Christ – for the Christian life is essentially a love relationship with the Lord Jesus. Is that how you were converted? Was that how you began? Were you espoused as a chaste virgin to Christ? Was your whole heart set on loving Him? – belonging to Him and knowing Him as Lord and Savior, Husband and Friend? That is normal New Testament Christianity. John, writing about new birth, says, “He that is born of God doesn’t commit sin.” I John 5:18 – We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. (King James Version) He’s had a complete turn-around: he was in love with the world; he was under the dominion of Satan, but he has been turned from the power of darkness to God, that he might be holy and separated and be sanctified by the faith which is in Christ Jesus. Is that the kind of conversion which you have had? That is the New Testament conversion: Out of darkness into light; Out of sin into holiness; Out of self-love into Christ-love. That’s it! Have you had it? Is it yours? Or have you merely joined the church with some hope of getting to heaven? That is a perversion of New Testament Christianity. “I have espoused you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” That spiritual virginity has little to do with human virginity, for in I Corinthians and Chapter 6, writing to the same people, Paul talks to them like this: I Corinthians 6 and verse 9: Know ye not the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, (v. 10) Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the Kingdom of God. (v. 11) And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. So you see, these Corinthians whom he says he had espoused as a chaste virgin to Christ, at one time were far from chaste. The Corinthian civilization was a mixture of the decadent1 Greek religion and philosophy that stemmed from Athens, and Roman commercialism. There were idols in every part of the city. The place was steeped with corruption – moral corruption, the love of money, worldliness: Corinth had it all, for the trade from east to west passed through that city. And Paul says you were like that: you were deceived, fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of yourselves with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners. You were like that – but God changed you through and through! Listen to it: “Such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of our God.” I pause again to ask you: Is that the kind of conversion you have been through? Is that your experience? – Don’t measure yourself by other people; measure yourself by God’s standard. Has this really happened to you? Are you in love with Jesus, having forsaken every other lord? That’s it. Plain and clear. Looking into this subject of virginity, I turned to the table of the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ – the genealogy which leads right up to the birth of Jesus through the Virgin Mary, and I feel tonight inclined to join the Roman Catholics and call her blessed, for didn’t she say, “All generations shall call me blessed.”2 So there you are. If you think that’s heresy, that’s all right, but I just feel that she was blessed, and before we’re through, we’ll see why she was blessed. But as we look through Matthew’s list of the forbears of Jesus Christ,3 we find that besides the Virgin Mary, there are four other women included in the family list. I know that you Americans love to trace your families. Many a Christian brother comes to me and says, “We trace our family right back to the Pilgrim Fathers.” Or, “Our parents came over in 17… something or other, and we have the record – we found the family coat of arms.” Well, here is the record of Jesus’ genealogy according to Matthew. And you’ll notice that there are four women mentioned before Mary: first in verse 3 is Tamar (tay’ – mar) next in verse 5 is Rahab (ray’ – hab) next comes Ruth (verse 5) and last comes one who is not named (but identified as): “her that had been the wife of Urias (verse 6) - - - (words in italics in King James Version). Four women who were brought into the family tree of our Lord Jesus and mentioned by name. I don’t think the Holy Spirit did that or allowed that to come in by accident, but His purpose was deliberate as we see the line of the Holy Son of God and Son of David, the Lord Jesus, and I want to pause to look at them and see what we can learn about Divine principles here. Number 1 (Tamar – Matthew 1:3) For the story of Tamar, see Genesis 38, entire chapter (verses 1-36) The first one was Tamar. Poor Tamar – who had been misused and disappointed. She had had two husbands but was still a virgin, for God had smitten them both in judgment for their sins, and then Judah had promised her his next son when he was full grown. And poor Tamar waited in her virginity while that young man grew to manhood and then she was disappointed and found herself left aside while that young man was married to another woman. And Tamar in her bitterness flung away her virginity, not through wantonness so much as through bitterness at being wrongly treated. And I believe that she is there as example to us – for many Christians were aware at the beginning of their Christian life, in the hour of their conversion, – I hope you were – aware that you had been called to be in spirit a virgin separated unto Jesus Christ. I am not talking about human relationships but Divine relationships, for every child of God to be separated to that principle which governs the whole church – separated to that principle of virginity. And you started that way - - - I hope you did. If you didn’t, you need to get right with God and born again in this very meeting! Did you start right? Did you hear that Divine Call? Did you come to Jesus as a sinner and take the cleansing of His precious blood? Were you made a new creature in Christ Jesus? Did it seem to you in that blessed hour that old things had passed away and all things were become new? Thank God for it! If it hasn’t taken place, then I beseech you, in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God tonight, for He made Jesus to be sin for you - - - he who knew no sin, that you might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Get right with God tonight if you haven’t found that place of separation to Jesus Christ. Don’t let this opportunity pass, but before you leave this building, turn to the Lord Jesus Christ with a full surrender, receive the precious cleansing of His blood and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. He will make you a new creature! Amen. But now then, there are some of you who started that way, and you found yourselves badly treated and disappointed. That’s what happened to Tamar: badly treated and disappointed – men let her down. She committed herself to a course of separation and then found herself wrongly treated, despised, set aside, and she became embittered and threw away her virginity out of her despair. There are Christians who have done something similar. Starting out with high hopes of what it meant to belong to Christ, they found themselves mistreated by those who should have known better, became disappointed and soured and lost the purity of their single relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ - - - threw away their spiritual virginity. Am I speaking to someone like that here? You started well, but through disappointment you’ve lost your pure relationship with Jesus Christ. I don’t know how God did it, but somehow He had mercy upon Tamar. Somehow the mystery of Divine grace touched her embittered life, and God took her up again – bitter and disappointed as she had been – separated her to Himself, put her name down in the list of those holy women who were the forbears of the Child of Mary. Hăl-lė-lü’-jăh! And I believe God has a message for many of us in that, for many of us have been similarly disappointed and have said, “Oh, it’s too hard to be Christian! I’m not recognized as I should be. God hasn’t favored me as I expected.” There’s a way back! God who had grace on Tamar can have grace upon the Christian who has fallen into rebellion and bitterness. There’s a way back in Christ Jesus. He who had mercy on Tamar can have mercy on you and bring you back to virgin relationship with Jesus Christ. In this human order, when virginity is lost, it is lost forever, but in the mercy of God there is such power in the blood of Jesus that, just as the Corinthians who had lived in such corruption (1 Cor. 6:9,10) were to be espoused as a chaste virgin to Christ (2 Cor. 11:2), so the backslidden Christian can be renewed, in God’s mercy, to an unsullied, unspoiled relationship by that blessed renewing of the Holy Ghost and the cleansing of the blood of Jesus. Yes, if you have lost out along lines like that, you can get right with God tonight and be a virgin soul for Christ. Thank God there’s a way back! I know how I lost out and I’ll own up, that for many years of my Christian service, I had lost that pure relationship with my savior and there were times when I despaired of ever recovering that first love.4 But I can testify tonight that while I gave up, God didn’t! Hăl-lė-lü’-jăh! And He’s bringing me back to such a place that my love for Jesus is being restored and increased every day. In my young days, I sometimes saw old Christians who had gone dry and heartless and sour. I hoped that would never happen to me, but I want to say that God is renewing me in my spiritual youth – not by the strength of my will – but by the fullness of His grace. Hăl-lė-lü’-jăh! I could never have made it on the strength of my vows! But God had mercy on me, and He is still renewing the grand old covenant, and life is getting better and better every day, the older I grow. Jesus is not a disappointment. His grace reaches us all the way. Hăl-lė-lü’-jăh! So, if you’ve been soured like poor Tamar and you’ve thrown away the virginity of your devotion to Christ, you can receive fresh cleansing and a new beginning tonight. Number 2 (Rahab – Matthew 1:5) For the story of Rahab, read the entire chapters of Joshua 2 and 6 Joshua 2:1-24 and Joshua 6:1-27. The next in Matthew’s list is found in verse 5 and that is Rahab the harlot of Jericho. What an amazing thing that a woman from a corrupt Ammonite race – a harlot in a city so corrupt that every one of its inhabitants was marked down for destruction – what an amazing thing, that she should not only be saved from the destruction around her, but that she should be sanctified also, separated to the Camp of Israel and then, far beyond anything that she dreamed, brought into relationship with the forbears of the coming Messiah: Rahab the harlot of Jericho, the city of the cursed, reaped the place of highest honor. I’m reminded of the Salvation Army girl who was traveling on a train in England, fresh out of Salvation Army College, where she had been trained how to deal with sinners. Opposite her, in the railway carriage – – this is an old, old story – – was a bishop in his gaiters, and feeling it was her duty to speak to the man opposite, she said, “Sir, may I ask you, are you saved?” “My dear,” he said, “don’t you know that I’m a bishop?” She responded (next answer out of the book) “There’s hope for the vilest, sir!” (Laughter) As of the story of Rahab the harlot, there is hope for the vilest. However did she get translated out of the corruption of Jericho into the holiness of the seed-line of the Christ? Paul tells us in Hebrews Chapter eleven – was not Rahab justified by faith?5 – no, it’s not Paul, it’s somebody else. I don’t know who it was who wrote that list in Hebrews chapter eleven – but Rahab is the culmination of his proof that faith can save the vilest. Hăl-lė-lü’-jăh! Sinner though she was, coming out of a defiled background, doomed for destruction, yet – she could be saved, sanctified, separated, made holy and enter into Divine purposes! When we talk about pardon, we rarely emphasize as we should do, the depth and fullness, the marvel and miracle of God’s divine pardon. It’s total. When Paul is talking about pardon, he nearly always brings in the thought of justification. The sinner is not just escaped from prison, not just receiving the official pardon, – he is brought into a righteousness before his God, a righteousness without works which no demon in hell can deny. Hăl-lė-lü’-jăh! As Paul puts it in Romans 4 and [verse] 5: “God justifies the ungodly.” The second woman then in Matthew’s list was an ungodly woman who entered into Divine favor by faith – faith that was born of fear. If you believe, can you fear? For it is fear that brings you into faith. Let me repeat it again: if you can’t believe, can you fear? – for Rahab the harlot feared the God of judgment who would cleanse the Holy Land of a race that would have corrupted the rest of humanity. And Rahab feared the approaching judgments of God, confessed her fear and changed sides; believed the messengers whom God sent into her life; entered into the blood covenant of Israel and in that great day of judgment and overthrow, was saved and transformed! Hăl-lė-lü’-jăh. And if there’s someone here who answers to the description of Rahab the harlot, praise God, as the Salvation Army girl said, “There is hope for the vilest.” Nay, more than hope, there is certainty for the vilest sinner who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. When I was converted, I had no one to help me like you have; I was on my own. The people in the church which I attended didn’t know much about salvation, and my only clue to it were some remarks in Wesley’s sermon which annoyed me tremendously, but God brought me under conviction of sin. And I can recollect now the hour when I had to cry, concerning the blood of Jesus, “Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief!” and out of my trembling fear of God, God gave me the first beginnings of a faith which, beginning then, has continued and grown ever since. If you haven’t got faith, then fear! Fear the judgment of God, and plead for refuge to a Man who died for you. Find shelter in the Rock of Ages, and God Himself will supply the faith that you need. Hăl-lė-lü’-jăh. Number 3 (Ruth – Matthew 1:5) For the story of Ruth, read the entire Book of Ruth – chapters 1 through 4. The next woman on the list was Ruth – Ruth the Moabitess. She too was brought into the seed-line. Ruth – she belongs to a tribe of whom God had declared in Deuteronomy,6 “Not one Moabite shall enter into the congregation of My people, not to the tenth generation. No, not forever,” said God, “shall a Moabite enter into the congregation of the righteous.” In spite of the Divine decree, Ruth got in! Grace triumphed over law! Hăl-lė-lü’-jăh! Grace triumphed over law. There may be all sorts of things written in the Bible to condemn you and they’re every one of them true and accurate, but beyond them all is the grace of God in Christ Jesus which can bring you in if that’s your heart. If you want to get in, you shall get in. Ruth wanted to enter into favor with God and she found her way there when she left Moab with her grieved mother-in-law Naomi. She would not go back. She said, “Entreat me not to leave thee not to fail to follow after thee. Where thou goest, I will go.”7 She was determined to go through and she got through in spite of the prohibition! You may feel yourself utterly condemned and utterly unworthy, but there’s a way through by grace into God’s favor and Ruth found that way through. I’m not going to stop to talk about that, but about a strange feature in the story of Ruth. Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer, had his eyes on her before she knew him. Boaz loved her before she loved him. Boaz was related to her through marriage and he had the right to redeem her. Boaz is the picture of that great Lord of the harvest, the Lord Jesus, who has a right to redeem you and me, for he is not only the Son of God, he is the Son of man and he is related to us; therefore he has a right to redeem us. Ruth’s heart was drawn to Boaz. Eventually, taking a great risk, forsaking the customs of her people, she followed Naomi’s instructions and made her appeal to Boaz on the harvest field that night. And when she took the risk of being cast out as an evil woman, Boaz recognized her, assured her and received her and it seemed as though all was set for Ruth to be married to Boaz and they were going to live happily ever after. – – – – I hope that was what was in your heart when you turned to the Lord Jesus! “But“, said Boaz, “there is another matter we must attend to. There is another kinsman who has a better right to redeem you than I have.” – (Ruth 3:12) Poor Ruth, having turned to Boaz for protection, was in danger of finding herself, after all, married to another man, and that the wrong man, the man who didn’t love her. She had placed herself in the mercy of the God of Israel and now the awful possibility had come across her path – having declared her position – the dread possibility that she might be married to the wrong man. And there are lots and lots of people who have turned to Christ, who somehow have finished up being married to the wrong man. I was present years ago at one of Lionel Fletcher’s campaigns. It was held in a large church in my hometown and a number of people came forward to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The Evangelical Committee had arranged for representatives of many churches in the district to interview these converts and someone I knew very well sat by while his friend was being interviewed. He said, “Where to you live? – (pause) – ah – this is the church then, that will be nearest to you – you can belong there. Sign your name.” And that’s it – married to the wrong husband! We’re not married to an organization; we’re married to a living Savior. We’re not married to a system made by man, but “he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.”8 And so these poor folk – they were all men – coming forward at the appeal of a pure gospel message – found themselves being diverted to something less than the Lord and Lover their heart was seeking. Ruth was in that position. She had made a move forward that she might be married to Boaz the kinsman-redeemer and she was in danger of being married to another man. It would be interesting to stop for a moment and look at the little ceremony that was arranged by Boaz. As morning broke, he took his place in the gate of the city. He called around him the ten elders of the city. As they gathered there, the people realized that the business transaction was going to take place, and a crowd gathered around the gate there as the men took their places in the seats inside the gate. Ruth was way back in the background, but presently came the nearer-kinsman more closely related to her than Boaz was himself. I want to pause to develop the allegory, or else you won’t know where I’m going. You too have a nearer-kinsman than Christ. And that nearer-kinsman is the law of God written upon men’s conscience. For the law which was given by Moses was, after all, only an epitome of the law of God from the beginning. And wherever you go this world over, you will find that all men retain a sense of right and wrong. And you have it, haven’t you, written on your conscience, even if you’re not a Christian: the sense of right and wrong? There is a danger, when people are seeking God, instead of finding Christ, all they find is the law of God written on their conscience, and so they turn over a new leaf and determine from that day to give up certain habits which were not Christian and acquire a new set of habits which are Christian. And instead of being married to the Lord and Lover and Life-giver, Jesus Christ, instead of being brought into fellowship with Him, all they have is a new set of rules to keep. Married to the wrong husband! There are thousands of churchgoers who are exactly in that position. They call themselves Christians, but all they have is a set of righteous rules to follow. Is that all you’ve got? Then you’re married to the wrong husband! Let us see how Boaz proceeded. He said to the nearer-kinsman, when he came by, “Ho, such a one! Sit down here. I have a matter to discuss with you. Naomi, coming back from Moab, wants to redeem her property. She has no money, but you are a near-kinsman and you have a right to redeem it for her. Will you do it?” “Yes,” he said, “certainly I’ll do it.” “Very well,” said Boaz. “There is one more thing I must inform you about. When you redeem her property – which belonged to Elimelech, you must also take Ruth the Moabitess to be your wife.” The nearer-kinsman looked across the market square and saw poor little Ruth half-veiled there in the distance. “A Moabitess – oh,” he said, “she’s not good enough for me. I can’t take her. I resign my right to redeem.” And that matter was publicly testified. The man took off his shoe as a sign that he had relinquished his claim as kinsman-redeemer, and that gave Boaz the right to step in and redeem and marry Ruth the Moabitess. In Romans chapter seven, we read the exact parallel in New Testament doctrine – I hope you can follow this little bit of doctrine which every Christian should understand: Romans Chapter seven, verse 2: [King James Version] [v.2] For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. [v.3] So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. [v.4] Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to law – (There it is!) – by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. ….dead to law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead… To whom are you married? To whom are you married? You turn from the world – who is your husband? “My Christian duty” – – is that it? That’s not good enough! Nor are you good enough! The law of God is too holy; it gives up on you. You’re a great deal too weak, too bad, too corrupt – and so am I – ever to be married to the law of God. It would kill us. Hăl-lė-lü’-jăh. But when Jesus died, he brought you to death in your relationship to law, that you might be married to another; even Jesus the friend of sinners, that He might redeem you, keep you, transform you, save you, and be your life and your love and your joy. Hăl-lė-lü’-jăh! Married to another! If you have missed out on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, there’s a way back! Praise the Lord. There are lots of church deacons who are just married to law; lots of church officers just married to law, doing their duty and that’s all; but the Christian life is a love relationship, a marriage union with Jesus Christ. And if you’re not there, He’s waiting for you – you who come short of God’s glory; you who have tried and failed; you who have been married to the wrong husband, “Christian duty” – and you’ve slipped up so many times that God’s law gives up on you too: you can be married to another, even to Him who was raised from the dead, that you should bring forth fruit unto God. Number 4 (Bathsheba – Matthew 1:6) For the story of Bathsheba, read Second Samuel, chapter 11:1-27 and chapter 12:1-25. The fourth woman on our list was Bathsheba, the woman whose life was spoiled by a man of God. Sad to say, history repeats itself and many young Christians have received greater damage from men of God than from the world. There’s a terrible responsibility on those who are chosen to proclaim the Word and to be leaders in the Christian sphere. And many have been damaged in different ways – some by false doctrine; some by unholy living. Some have been so spoiled that you wouldn’t think that there was any hope for them, but somehow – I don’t know how – God had mercy upon mercy on Bathsheba and David so that it wasn’t only David who found forgiveness but Bathsheba did also. And the overwhelming mercy of God was extended to both of them and they were brought into a holy relationship with the Lord God Almighty. I can’t understand it – grace upon grace – and if you feel that your life has been marred so that you’ve lost your original relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, there is mercy for you. God included these names in the list that we might know how vast is his mercy as He brings us into a love relationship, yes, into a virgin relationship, with Jesus Christ. “I have espoused you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (Paul, in 2 Cor. 11:2) - washed, sanctified, justified. Number 5 (Mary – Matthew 1:16) For the visit of the angel Gabriel to the virgin Mary, read Luke 1:26-38. For Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, read Luke 1:39-56. And the last one on the list is Mary herself (End, Side 1 of Cassette) (Start, Side 2) – pure, spotless, holy. – – – better be careful, for even Mary needed a savior! For after she had been visited by the angel, after the Holy Ghost had come upon her, she went in haste to the hill country of Judea and there she met with aged Elizabeth, now a miracle mother-to-be, and Elizabeth came out of the little house to meet young Mary. And Elizabeth cried out with great joy as she saw the younger woman approaching her, and she said in a loud voice, [Luke 1:42] Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. [v.43] And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? [v.44] For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. [v.45] And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. [v.46] And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, [v.47] And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Mary needed a Saviour just as much as anyone else. Hăl-lė-lü’-jăh! And when you read through the gospel record, you will find that even Mary was far from perfect. She needed a Saviour and an Advocate just as much as you do. And Mary the mother of our Lord was with the others on that blessed day of Pentecost, needing also to be filled with power from on high just like al the rest! Praise God. And how was Mary saved? How was she justified? Why, old Elizabeth had told her! Blessed is she that believed. [Luke 1:45] That’s it! And God intends you and intends me to be as pure as the Virgin. “I have espoused you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” Separated unto one husband. Is that your heart tonight? That’s what God has for you – total separation to the Lord who has loved you. Are you there? Are you separated? Is Jesus you life, your Lord, your love – or have you two husbands? I have met people who are even married to T.V. Have you two husbands? Where are you? Some people try to be married to Jesus and married to the world. Two husbands. Paul says, “I have espoused you as a chaste virgin to one husband.” Some are loving the Lord Jesus and loving their own fleshly desires. Paul says I have married you – – – – espoused you to one husband. Where are you? Are you separated to Jesus Christ? That is New Testament Christianity. Are you in love with Him who first loved you? Or are you loving another? In the Book of Revelation we are shown a virgin company. They are not virgins in the human sense, but in the Divine sense, and their characteristic is this: They follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. They follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. (Revelation 14:4) Virgin hearts. Is that yours? Then I suggest to you, if you’ve come under any of these descriptions, that it’s gloriously possible, even here tonight, by the grace of God, to come right back to a pure love relationship with Jesus. Hăl-lė-lü’-jăh! Totally, altogether His – espoused by the gospel in holiness unto Christ. God didn’t intend holiness to be a second experience. He intended it to be a first experience from the moment you heard the voice of Jesus and were cleansed from your sins. God intended you to begin in holiness. But, praise God, even though, like some of these people mentioned in that list, you have come short of God’s glory, there’s a way back here and now and tonight! Will you take that way back? As we hasten on to the end of the age, as we hasten on to the marriage supper of the Lamb, will you take your way back that you might be found without spot at the appearing of Jesus Christ? The last few moments of this meeting can be mighty as you and I turn from every divided loyalty to be separated to Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. Is that your mind and heart? As we bow in prayer now, will you let God search your heart? “Is thy heart right with God, Washed in the crimson flood, Perfect and holy, humble and lowly, Is thy heart right with God?” The great lover, desiring a separated people with a singleness of love, a singleness of heart. Maybe you’ve been trying to manage a sort of two-husband affair – a polyandry affair, and God wants to bring you right back to simplicity. Hăl-lė-lü’-jăh. Married to another; married to Jesus. If it is in your heart to turn back to Him now, you do so. If it is going to help you to make a stand for Christ and say, “Jesus, I come,” if it’s going to help you by standing to your feet as the declaration, do so. But O Christian, the Lord is longing for those who are separated to Jesus, redeemed form all iniquity. Some are standing already. Maybe the Holy Ghost is talking to you, saying “I want you – that’s right, and you and you to be wholly Christ’s from this moment, to be cleansed from all double loyalties; to be His and His alone; a chaste virgin for Jesus. Thank God for those who are responding to the call of the Holy Ghost in this hour. Gladness and light, Jesus, I come to thee, Out of my sickness into Thy health, Out of my want and into Thy wealth, Out of my sin and into Thyself, Jesus, I come to Thee. – Sing it with me, will you? Out of my bondage, sorrow and night, Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come; Into Thy freedom, gladness and light, Jesus, I come to Thee! Out of my sickness into they health, Out of my want and into Thy wealth, Out of my sin and into Thyself, Jesus, I come to Thee.9 Prayer – Take, Lord, every heart, everyone who has responded: Seal us, Lord, unto Thyself. From this hour, may the love of Christ begin to become more real than ever before, and may our hearts be joined to Thee in pure spiritual virginity. We long to love Thee and to know Thy love. Draw every longing heart, Lord, into close and continuous communion with the Lover of our souls. O God, that there might be a virgin company prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom! In Jesus’ Name. Amen. Footnotes decadent – (in this tape pronounced des-sa-dent). adj. – in a state or condition of decline or decay. Luke 1:48 Matthew 1:1-17 first love: refer to Revelation 2:4 Hebrews 11:31 Deuteronomy 12:3-4. For origin of the Moabites & Ammonites, refer to Genesis 19:37-38 Ruth 1:16 1 Corinthians 6:17 Song # 416 from The Redemption Hymnal: Out of my bondage, sorrow and .. 1. Out of my bondage, sorrow and night, Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come; Into Thy freedom, gladness and light, Jesus I come to Thee; Out of my sickness into Thy health, Out of my want and into Thy wealth, Out of my sin and into Thyself, Jesus, I come to Thee. Out of my shameful failure and loss, Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come; Into the glorious gain of Thy cross, Jesus I come to Thee; Out of earth’s sorrows into Thy balm, Out of life’s storms and into Thy calm, Out of distress to jubilant psalm, Jesus I come to Thee. Out of unrest and arrogant pride, Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come; Into Thy blessed will to abide, Jesus I come to Thee; Out of myself to dwell in Thy love, Out of despair into raptures above, Upward for aye on wings like a dove, Jesus I come to Thee. Out of the fear and dread of the tomb, Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come; Into the joy and light of my home, Jesus I come to Thee; Out of the depths of ruin untold, Into the peace of Thy sheltering fold, Ever Thy glorious face to behold, Jesus I come to Thee. William T, Sleeper.

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